Thursday, January 29, 2015

Super Bowl Initiative Helps Advance Phoenix Urban Forest

Phoenix, AZ (January 10, 2015) — A total of 170 trees will be planted across the Phoenix area as part of the 10th anniversary of urban forestry at Super Bowl. This past week, the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee and local volunteers teamed up to plant 35 new trees at a Phoenix park as part of the initiative to make the city greener in time for the big game.

Photo courtesy of Andrew Bernier — KJZZ

The tree plantings are part of an overall greening strategy for Super Bowl, which also leaves a green legacy.

First up to receive new trees was Paradise Cove Park, which was hit with a microburst during the last monsoon season, destroying nearly 40 of the trees planted around the area.

Paradise Cove is one of five parks receiving new vegetation. Local volunteers showed up in pairs to help plant the variety of trees, which included pine, acacia, elm, pistache and sissoo trees.

Experienced volunteers were on hand to help with some of the heavier lifting, and to offer advice about the best way to care for the trees to make sure they last well into the future.

“This is the easy part,” volunteer Lynn Marks said. “The hard part will be maintaining them for the next 50 years…but it can be done.”

The city of Phoenix has a goal of 25 percent canopy coverage by 2030 from both trees and structures. Though emphasis is on shade, trees offer many more benefits.

Currently the city is anywhere from 9 to 12 percent throughout the city and that ranges from seven in some areas to 17 in others. The average return on investment for a medium-size mature tree in the Valley is $2.23 for every $1 expended.